← SOA-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 1,500 of 1,546

Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The correct combination is a maintenance window with the cron schedule `cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *)` paired with the `AWS-RunPatchBaseline` SSM document using operation `Install` and reboot option `RebootIfNeeded`. This cron expression specifically targets the second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 AM by using the `?` wildcard for day-of-week and `TUE#2` to denote the ordinal occurrence, while the `Install` operation applies all available patches and the `RebootIfNeeded` setting ensures the instance only reboots when a patch requires it, avoiding unnecessary downtime. On the SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Systems Manager patching with maintenance windows and cron schedule syntax, a common trap being confusion between `TUE#2` and simpler day-of-month expressions like `15`—remember that `#` denotes ordinal weekdays. A helpful memory tip: think “TUE#2 = second Tuesday” and “RebootIfNeeded = reboot only when mandatory.”

SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question

This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment, provisioning, and automation. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A company uses AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager to automate patching of Amazon EC2 instances. The SysOps administrator needs to configure a maintenance window that will patch instances on the second Tuesday of every month at 2:00 AM. The administrator wants to ensure that patches are automatically applied but reboots are only performed if required. Which combination of configurations should the administrator use?

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Read the full NAT/PAT explanation →

A
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
This schedule correctly specifies the second Tuesday of each month at 2 AM. The document and operation apply patches, and RebootIfNeeded only reboots if necessary.
B
Create a maintenance window with a rate schedule of 30 days and use an AWS-ApplyPatchBaseline document with operation 'Scan' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
Why wrong: A rate schedule cannot specify a particular day of the week. The operation 'Scan' only checks for missing patches without installing them.
C
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 14 * ? *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
Why wrong: This cron schedule triggers on the 14th day of every month, not the second Tuesday.
D
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 2 * 2 *) and use an AWS-InstallPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'NoReboot'.
Why wrong: The cron expression is invalid; the correct format uses ? for day-of-week and * for month. Also, AWS-InstallPatchBaseline is not a valid SSM document.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.

Option A is correct because it uses the cron expression `cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *)` to schedule the maintenance window for the second Tuesday of every month at 2:00 AM, and the `AWS-RunPatchBaseline` document with operation `Install` and reboot option `RebootIfNeeded` ensures patches are applied automatically and reboots only occur when required by the patch installation.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
Why this is correct
This schedule correctly specifies the second Tuesday of each month at 2 AM. The document and operation apply patches, and RebootIfNeeded only reboots if necessary.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a maintenance window with a rate schedule of 30 days and use an AWS-ApplyPatchBaseline document with operation 'Scan' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
Why it's wrong here
A rate schedule cannot specify a particular day of the week. The operation 'Scan' only checks for missing patches without installing them.
✗
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 14 * ? *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'.
Why it's wrong here
This cron schedule triggers on the 14th day of every month, not the second Tuesday.
✗
Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 2 * 2 *) and use an AWS-InstallPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'NoReboot'.
Why it's wrong here
The cron expression is invalid; the correct format uses ? for day-of-week and * for month. Also, AWS-InstallPatchBaseline is not a valid SSM document.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often confuse the cron syntax for 'second Tuesday' with simpler day-of-month or day-of-week expressions, or mistakenly use invalid SSM document names like `AWS-ApplyPatchBaseline` or `AWS-InstallPatchBaseline`, which do not exist in AWS Systems Manager.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

The `AWS-RunPatchBaseline` document uses the `Install` operation to apply patches from the configured patch baseline, and the `RebootIfNeeded` option checks the patch installation exit code to determine if a reboot is required, automatically rebooting only when necessary. The cron expression `TUE#2` is a special syntax in AWS Maintenance Windows that specifically targets the second occurrence of Tuesday in a month, which is distinct from standard Unix cron and is validated by the AWS scheduler. In real-world scenarios, using `RebootIfNeeded` is critical for critical workloads where unnecessary reboots cause downtime, but the patch baseline must be configured with the appropriate approval rules to avoid missing required patches.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SOA-C02 question test?

Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — This question tests Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create a maintenance window with a cron schedule of cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *) and use an AWS-RunPatchBaseline document with operation 'Install' and reboot option 'RebootIfNeeded'. — Option A is correct because it uses the cron expression `cron(0 2 ? * TUE#2 *)` to schedule the maintenance window for the second Tuesday of every month at 2:00 AM, and the `AWS-RunPatchBaseline` document with operation `Install` and reboot option `RebootIfNeeded` ensures patches are applied automatically and reboots only occur when required by the patch installation.

What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Same concept, more angles

2 more ways this is tested on SOA-C02

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A company uses AWS Systems Manager to automate patching of EC2 instances. The instances are in an Auto Scaling group. The company wants to ensure that patching does not affect application availability. Which feature should be used?

easy

A.State Manager
✓ B.Maintenance Windows
C.Patch Manager
D.Run Command

Why B: Option A is correct because Systems Manager Maintenance Windows allow scheduling patching during specific time windows, and can be configured to work with Auto Scaling to maintain availability. Option B is wrong because Run Command is for ad-hoc commands. Option C is wrong because Patch Manager is the service, but Maintenance Windows schedule it. Option D is wrong because State Manager is for configuration, not patching.

Variation 2. A company uses AWS Systems Manager to automate patching of EC2 instances. The SysOps administrator creates a Maintenance Window that targets a list of instances. The patching task fails with the error: 'Instance is not in a supported state.' What should the administrator check FIRST?

medium

A.Verify that the instance has a public IP address.
B.Verify that the instance's security group allows inbound traffic from Systems Manager.
✓ C.Verify that the SSM Agent is installed and running on the instance.
D.Verify that the instance has an IAM instance profile attached with the necessary permissions.

Why C: Option C is correct because Systems Manager requires the SSM Agent to be installed and running on the instance to execute commands. Option A is wrong because instance profiles are for IAM roles, not patching. Option B is wrong because security groups affect network access, not the agent. Option D is wrong because patching does not require a public IP.

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